Man Utd midfield woes lead to shock decisions on Amrabat and Huddlestone

Anybody else astonished that Man Utd are not going to sign a player who has been a bit rank? And Tom Huddlestone offers obfuscation.

Sofyan, so bad
Sofyan Amrabat has started only seven Premier League games for Manchester United on loan and to get an idea of his performances for the club, here are some snippets from the player ratings in the Manchester Evening News in recent weeks:

His use of the ball was dreadful at times…invisible when Leroy Sane drove through United’s spine..his positioning caused United problems…his passing was too loose too often.

Over three weeks ago, Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian wrote that ‘Manchester United are aiming to strengthen in four positions in January, with concerns over Sofyan Amrabat’s indifferent start prompting the club to consider a move for a defensive midfielder’.

So hands up anybody who thought that Manchester United were going to make his move permanent. We’re pretty sure that even Amrabat is keeping his hands in his pockets right now; which might explain why he looks so slow.

But that hasn’t stopped The Sun claiming an exclusive, because no other f***er has worked this out:

MANCHESTER United are unlikely to keep Sofyan Amrabat at the end of the season, SunSport has learned.

Did they ‘learn’ by using their eyes? In other news, Mediawatch has ‘learned’ that Nottingham Forest are unlikely to keep Nuno Tavares at the end of the season. And that Ange Postecoglou is Australian, mate.

Erik Ten Hag is “already planning” for the player to return to Italy in the summer.

Excellent use of quotes there. Pretty sure it doesn’t take a lot of ‘planning’ to adhere to the actual terms of the loan, but we appreciate the insight of the ‘insider’.

Obviously other outlets picked up on this sensational news with the Mirror leading the way:

Man Utd make Sofyan Amrabat transfer call as Erik ten Hag heeds Jamie Carragher advice

Yes, we imagine Ten Hag was absolutely going to sign Amrabat on a permanent basis until he watched Sky Sports‘ coverage of United’s draw with 0-0 and heard Carragher say this: “I don’t know why they’re playing a man-to-man system. He can’t run.”

Not strictly ‘advice’ but that’s nit-picking; the Dutchman clearly listened and decided some time between Sunday afternoon and Wednesday morning that Amrabat would not be signed on a permanent basis.

But why write one version of a non-story when you can write two, with the Mirror doubling down on Thursday:

Erik ten Hag set to trigger secret Sofyan Amrabat transfer clause after Man Utd U-turn

This is a clause so ‘secret’ that the Mirror themselves wrote about it in early September. And it’s really not Ten Hag’s clause to ‘trigger’; it’s a Fiorentina clause that basically says he gets an extension to his contract if Manchester United do not sign him next summer. It’s got absolutely f*** all to do with Manchester United.

It’s amazing what can be eked out of ‘man who’s been a bit sh*t on loan won’t join permanently’. Particularly if it’s Man Utd.

Hudds up
This is dirty stuff from the Manchester Evening News:

Manchester United set for midfield boost after Tom Huddlestone included in training

Huddlestone was included in Manchester United training three days ago when ‘the United players who started against Liverpool in the goalless draw on Sunday had a recovery session’.

But congratulations on the clicks on a news story about Christian Eriksen. And when we say ‘congratulations’, we mean ‘how do you sleep?’

Fr*gging in the rigging
One of the problems with the race to the bottom (but top of Google) is the oxygen it gives to the loons and the pub bores.

So literally top story in football on Thursday morning according to The Sun is this:

Carabao Cup semi-final draw labelled the ‘most obviously rigged ever’ by fans as Chelsea get Championship tie

It’s your da, basically.

The Sun then write that ‘petulant supporters took to social media, ridiculously suggesting the draw was “most obviously rigged” which it clearly was not’.

What’s more ridiculous? Claiming a draw is rigged or pretending this is the biggest news in football? Mediawatch is opting for the latter.

Earps, they did it again
We’re not saying that GB News have been triggered by the announcement of Mary Earps as BBC Sports Personality of the Year but 11 of their last 16 stories published on their football page are about the Manchester United and England goalkeeper.

The latest?

Mary Earps set to avoid another fiasco with promise it will ‘never happen again’ after SPOTY win

Which is one way to deliver the news that Nike have assured her that they will sell England goalkeeper replica shirts in future, but it’s absolutely not the right way.

MAILBOX: Pity poor, irrelevant Joey Barton over attention grab from Queen Mary Earps