Is Man Utd ‘no d**kheads’ policy finally reaping rewards?

Whether by accident or design, Manchester United may have stumbled upon a winning formula. The policy is finally bearing fruit.

We also have loads of mails on Arsenal but we are largely trying to move on. Mail us at theeditor@football365.com

Have Man Utd stumbled into bright sunlight?

Have INEOS stumbled into a potentially very bright future for Manchester Utd? Or did Wilcox and co. learn their lesson about letting an inexperienced manager bring in an equally inexperienced staff and instead, through their own connections and discussions with Carrick, put together their ideal team, a balanced mix of experience and youth with genuine ties to the club and national team?

With every top-level manager insisting on bringing his own team, the cost goes up and the club ties disappear, while the risk barely drops and the hope barely rises. That type of appointment also seems to contradict the board’s long-term plan. From the beginning, they talked about a unified, cooperative structure that brings back the so-called “United DNA”: get results, improve players, connect with the fan base, promote young coaches and local players, all built on hard work and technical quality.

All of INEOS’s decisions so far have been made with an eye on the future, with a transfer and manager policy of buy younger and develop over time. Handing control back to a bigger name would contradict that. The gamble also then becomes whether that big name eventually cedes some control or doubles down, potentially leaving us right back where we were with Amorim. Of course, if Carrick were to stumble across the finish line instead, it might be the only option left.

Timing is often the missing ingredient when chasing success. Wilcox and Barrada were labelled inexperienced but highly rated. Is this recent upsurge ability or luck?

Their transfer policy of “no dickheads” seems to be paying off. The squad looks better, happier and harder working. New leaders are emerging and old ones are reasserting themselves. We’re hearing stories of players like Dorgu staying behind after training, Sesko and Cunha taking recovery more seriously, and players generally looking after themselves better. Compare that to the missed sessions, nights out and late-night Xbox marathons of the last few years and it’s night and day.

That’s why I hope there’s a pinch of salt to the Rashford return stories. As much as the romantic in me likes the prodigal son narrative, it probably makes more sense to shake hands and move on.

But football is about romance. Isn’t that why we’d want Carrick to take the job full time? Not out of sentiment alone, but because if he earns it with a second or third place finish, it means something special has happened. Another big-name appointment might do fine, but when did we become so hardened that we’re scared of getting carried away by something potentially lovely?

Speaking of lovely: Kobbie Mainoo. This surely has to all lead to him becoming club captain when Bruno eventually leaves. He’s a one-off. Young, talented, academy developed. He’s overcome adversity and disappointment to establish himself as the leader in midfield. Tough year, head down, took his chance. Never bitched or moaned once. His simple brother did, but you can’t be surprised by simple people doing simple things.

Before that though, hang on to Bruno for another four or five years. Man’s a genius. The usual criticism is that he disrupts shape with his one-man heroics and needs more discipline. But his game has never been about speed, it’s about speed of thought. As his legs naturally slow, he’ll be forced to be stricter positionally. And as the team around him becomes more structured, with a younger, fitter Casemiro replacement behind him, and Kobbie continuing to develop, we might actually see an even better version of Fernandes.

With Mbeumo now starting as a 9 and more goals coming from the supporting cast, we’re finally affording Sesko the time and support Højlund was never given. We criticised the club for asking a young, unproven striker to shoulder the burden alone. Now Sesko can come off the bench full of beans this season, then feature more next year when the games stack up, allowing him to develop properly. Regardless of the price tag, this is how you treat a 22-year-old new to the league.

One final thing on Amorim. There were benefits. A few passengers moved on, and certain players added elements to their game. But his silence after leaving was telling. Not even a nod to the fans who sang his name through all that dross. It felt small.

We tried. He failed. We move on to something brighter, whether by design or by accident.
Matt

Why Spurs went to sh*t

I’ve got a theory on why Spurs have been, broadly speaking, diabolical for the last two seasons. For the best part of a decade, Spurs (yes, actual Spurs), had arguably the best striker on the planet (at least top 3) playing alongside one of the top 10 or 20 goal scoring wide forwards in the world.

Two absolutely elite tier goal scorers will mask a multitude of sins. As Kane departed and Son aged out, that mask has evaporated and now they’re just a collection of very ordinary, mid table players. I really think it’s that simple.
Lewis, Busby Way

Arsenal v Chelsea hurt the eyes

Arsenal v Chelsea was another absolute violation of the spirit of football, but in fairness, that was all on Chelsea. Or more precisely, Rosenior.

However, denying Arteta’s Cybermen t

he opportunity to assault everyone at corners, and cunningly placing three of those potential victims on the halfway line could be an approach the rest of the league might have some fun with. We can only hope.

OG will be gutted that his supply line is being cut though.
RHT/TS x

(By the way Det Insp Ryan, strictly armchair me, Cobblers are my team by birth, but they hurt my eyes worse than your lot do. And it’s cold out)

Are Arsenal the new Chelsea?

As an Arsenal fan feeling a bit baffled by the hate of the football we play, the club and (understandably) part of the fanbase. Is this how Chelsea fans felt 2004-2007 when everyone utterly despised them for the spending, the approach to football and the manager?

For me there are quite a few parallels here. I’m hoping that history repeats itself here!
Ali, Ealing

Arsenal view from a neutral

AFC Wimbledon fan here. That is to say, I don’t have a dog in the fight for the title, obviously (to anyone who knows SW London) not a huge Chelsea fan, my dad is from the Wirral, which is Everton country, so obviously ABL was a big part of my childhood, and I never really liked either Manchester Club (various reasons,) which leaves Arsenal…

Little known fact: the same season Arsenal were invincible, AFC Wimbledon also went unbeaten in, I believe, the Combined Counties League: Southern Division! (Ed. Feel free to research and correct that smarmily if I’m wrong!)

Another little known fact: (I’m pretty sure) The only club other than Arsenal that Aaron Ramsdale has played a full season for and not got relegated with is AFC Wimbledon. (Same…)

So yeah I guess I’d like Arsenal to win it, (another AFC?) more by process of elimination and little known facts than affiliation.

But more to the point, I just don’t see anyone catching them, Villa just don’t quite have the consistency, although can beat, I think, literally anyone on their day, and City just aren’t turning up when it matters like they used to, Liverpool I don’t feel need any justification at their current points total.

I’m 42 years old so I just about remember every Premiership season (all of football history?) and I don’t remember being more sure of who is going to win it in years. Anecdotal evidence, granted, but the second word in that is still evidence.

All of this is taking the real long way round to saying:

What is Stewie Griffin going to have to write in about when Arsenal, the Viking clogger, El Pulizon, and all the MAGA-lite actually close it out?

I actually find his rants pretty amusing, enjoy them while you can people…
Andy

You can be boring AND the best

Lots of back and forth in the mailbox in relation to Arsenal’s “boring” label this week, interesting to watch the various viewpoints being laid out. I don’t particularly care about them one way or another, but there are some aspects to the situation which I think are probably indisputable:

– They ARE dull to watch. Hugely effective, very strong defensively, but just not exciting for neutrals. Winning is of course the name of the game, and it brings its own buzz for their fans, but you can be successful without setting pulses racing. That’s the case with Arsenal this season, and that’s fine. Plenty of previous league winners have been similarly solid. Their fans are right not to particularly care how they go about ending a title famine of 20+ years.

– Comparisons to Liverpool’s stroll last season are also pretty valid, in the sense that none of the other contenders are performing at the level they would have expected. City are horribly inconsistent compared to previous seasons. Liverpool, Chelsea and United are all some combination of work in progress/shambles/regression. Villa lack depth, largely thanks to PSR. Arsenal have so far taken advantage of all that, very similar to Liverpool’s serene run last season. It doesn’t mean it’s a terrible league, or that they’d be bad champions, but the margin for error is far higher than they could have anticipated.

– If they fail to get over the line, it will be objectively hilarious for everyone else. Arteta’s cartoonish intensity rubs a lot of fans up the wrong way, which I think Arsenal fans probably understand. The players sometimes mirror it too – he has them wound up like springs, hence some of the insane celebrations we’ve seen from them in the past.

The derogatory narratives have of course been set in stone by rival fan groups, getting their rationalisations for their own teams’ failure prepared nice and early. “They won it by playing crap football”, “It was handed to them”, “They had to win it sooner or later by the law of averages”, etc. It must be fantastic for level-headed Arsenal fans to recognise that this all stems from the increasing likelihood of them making it over the line in the next few months.

They are still pretty shit to watch, mind. Who wants to win a league like that, eh???
Keith Reilly

Arsenal will be brilliant next season

If Arsenal win the league I think we will see the best football under Arteta NEXT season.

Arteta knows the pressure is on this season to win something hence the pragmatical and stifling football in the league this season to ensure we try and get over the line.

People forget what he did when he first came into Arsenal. He played with a back 5, ensured we were difficult to beat and got Aubamayang to score the goals that led to an FA cup win. He was more George Graham (or Mourinho) than the Pep everyone though he would be.

Over the years he gently evolved the team to be more Pep. Unfortunately due to a lack of squad depth he was unable to get over the line (while still punching above his weight in my view).

This season the squad has been beefed up to cope and he has realised he needs to play to what they are best at – Defensive solidity. Any Arsenal fan under the later Wenger years watched Arsenal between fingers knowing they could concede at any time, particularly against the big teams. That anxiety is gone under Arteta. Only replaced with the cautious anxiety of trying to win games to be champions.

But one thing I have noticed is that Arteta has an ego. He likes being lauded by foreign coaches for Arsenal’s displays in Europe. He will not enjoy any boring tag associated with his team. He knows it has to be this way for now. However, once the pressure is off. The ego in him will demand a more expansive playing style which he will aim to deliver now he has the squad and hopefully the confidence of Champions.
Michael O, Chingford

That Arsenal fanbase…

Good Christ Arsenal fans, we get it, your club’s special and we should all shut up. Or talk more about you… It’s hard to gauge which.

Even above Liverpool fans for worst winners and worst losers.
Will (Most of my friends and work colleagues are Gooners, good lord life can be insufferable when they’re doing badly OR well)

Arsenal men v Chelsea boys

“Arteta’s plan worked when it looked for a while like it would come second best to Rosenior’s” is such a bizarre take. Chelsea had to score. They never looked like scoring. That’s not a plan, or certainly not one deserving of any credit.

The truth is last night was men against boys. Like the big lad in an 80s film we held our arm outstretched on the little boy’s forehead while he swung his arms wildly and hit nothing. Chelsea are the biggest spenders in the league and still only look like top four material at best. They’re also completely unlikeable imo but at least that’s on-brand for Chelsea.

Much love.
Simon Cochrane

VAR always checks

When you are writing to the mailbox

Please, Please can you re read your mail before rage hitting send.

The phrase “”VAR didn’t even check” is surely now understood to be completely false

You may mean the commentary team didn’t mention it.. but as I’m sure you are aware VAR checks and over checks everything..

So VAR did check the corner, and the free kick and the row off the ball. It always does.

We hear this all the time, the comms don’t tell us everything that var checks as it checks everything, isn’t that 1 of the reasons is so disliked, Its huge over reach?

Sorry just latest pet peeve of inaccuracies and kneejerk reactionaries saying things as gospel that really they have very little clue about.
Al – LFC – Appreciates I am not a VAR operator so am maybe my own pet peeve!

It’s a quiet Mailbox day so…

With just the west asia derby – Abu Dhabi v Arabia saudi tonight, I may get this published.

My first World Cup, interrupted by poor access to tv signals, saw me rooting for Scotland in the Argentine as their song went.

As a young ignoramus I didn’t know that Peru were South American champions and not at all a minnow but Teofilo Cubillas was the latin Stan Bowles – both natural flair merchants.

I could barely put together any hazy image of anything ‘Iran’ though I was clear that with demi gods like Martin Buchan, Kenny Dalglish, Rioch, Souness and Joe Jordan surely they’d beat ‘em. Neither did I have any idea where Johan Cruyff had disappeared to.

Scotland’s campaign back then was a little marred by a player getting sent home for some scandal which is unlikely to happen to any of the squad or the likeable tartan army who’ll be following games v Haiti, Morocco and Brazil across the Americas this summer.

I can see some parallels there for Scottish World cup malarkey. So I predict a heavy loss to the excellent Morocco, who also beat them in Saint Etienne in ‘98 just before England got surprisingly & worryingly drawn there for the Argentina clash, then a disappointing and frustrating 1-1 with Haiti before battering Brazil 3-2 with Billy Gilmour doing the mazy dribble of Archie Gemmill cultural jock folklore.

In the end they did’nae ‘ bring the World Cup back from over there ‘ but by golly that Scotland kit was a beauty.
Peter (if Brazil are underwhelming, Carletto may consider retiring at Old Trafford), Andalucia